Tourism companies in Milford Sound were gearing up for an influx of customers as the first buses in weeks loaded with vistors roll into town on Friday morning.
The only road in was extensively damaged when more than a metre of rain fell in less than three days a the beginning of February.
Up to 60 millimetres of rain was expected to fall on Friday morning, but organisers were confident tourists would be cruising the fiord before lunchtime.
Tess Brunton filed this report from Te Anau.